“I am certain that there are economists whose reputations for outstanding academic work in monetary policy are every bit as distinguished as Mr. Bernanke’s, and who have good judgment and experience within the Federal Reserve System,” she writes in The New York Times.

“President Obama should choose one of them.”

Schwartz faults Bernanke for the Fed’s massive easing program.

“Why is easy monetary policy such a sin?” she writes.

“Because in such an environment, loans are cheap and borrowers can finance every project that they dream up. This results in excesses, and also increases the severity of the recession that inevitably follows when the bubble bursts.”

Schwartz says the Fed misread the financial crisis by concluding that the credit markets needed more liquidity.

“The real problem was that because of the mysterious new instruments that investors had acquired, no one knew which firms were solvent or what assets were worth,” she writes.

“Most of all, Mr. Bernanke ultimately failed to convince the market that the Fed had a plan, and was not performing ad hoc.”

Others, among them Warren Buffett, feel differently.

“I don’t see how you could have anybody better than Ben Bernanke,” the investment legend told CNNMoney.com.

Without Bernanke’s skill, a second Great Depression “could easily” have ensued, Buffett says.